Pineapple, Cycling, and Baby!

We welcomed little Sawyer into our family this morning! 
First, here are some pictures, because they are the most exciting part of all. (Details at the bottom are primarily to help me remember this day...)

A quick run-down of events:
Saturday: Baby-get-the-move-on-out tricks... Cycling class and Pineapple!

Sunday: Happy Birthday Sawyer!
5 AM- I woke up, slightly crampy... "This could be the day!"
           Ate some pineapple, showered, started oatmeal, dressed
5:45 AM- Timing contractions at two minutes apart. Woke up Devin.
6:15 AM- On our way to the hospital
6:30ish- Dilated to a 6... contractions starting to become painful
7:27 AM- After three hard contractions and three big pushes, Sawyer was born!

He has hair!

6 lbs 6.5 oz, 17.5 in

First Bath:

 Visitors:

Proudly wearing the "big brother" sticker

 Our kids are crazy.

5/25/14

I really wanted to have this baby today.

Yesterday I was going to do all I could to make that happen.

Saturday started with cycling class at Lifetime, a really good workout. We went to the zoo, and walked all over. And I tried some tricks to get the baby on his way… like eating pineapple. That was a new one to me, an instructor friend from the gym told me it works.

I was really hoping for a Sunday baby, I knew it would be so much more convenient to have Devin home because I know my babies come fast! I also tested positive this time for Group B Strep (GBS), which is a normal bacteria but can be harmful to baby meaning that I was supposed to get an antibiotic through an IV four hours before I delivered. I doubted I’d have that much time even if I did leave right away, but it would be helpful if Devin was already home. I had other reasons for wanting to deliver this weekend too… I just wanted the baby out, Devin can get more time off now than in a week, and I was told they give an extra lunch for Memorial Day in the hospital! So hopeful was I that this baby would come!

I had been waiting for some signs that meant he’d be coming soon. 1)- Nesting. I don’t know if it is a normal pattern with most pregnant women or not, but my nesting seems a bit bizarre. Early Friday morning my nesting stage hit!  Thursday night I just didn’t feel very tired, and at 1:30AM I was awake and ready to get cleaning! So I emptied my dishwasher, cleaned out the fridge, cleaned the kitchen, started a few loads of laundry, read a little, went for a walk at 5AM, made some muffins, and made bread. I made it through the day with the help of a 40 minute lie down, can’t call it a true nap because it was interrupted with Bridger talking to me every so often. But I felt great! I thought if I could always feel as good as I did when I was nesting (minus the extra early mornings), being pregnant wouldn’t be bad at all!

Friday night I slept great, so Saturday I started my preparations to make way for the baby! But the second sign I was waiting for 2)- baby dropping, hadn’t happened yet. So though I was very hopeful he would come, I still wondered if he would wait the week until they induced me.

(Sub note: after testing positive for GBS, and knowing how quick my labors are, my midwife suggested we schedule an induction so my labor could take place in a controlled setting. But hospital rules are that you can’t be induced until 39 weeks.)

I think walking around the zoo and carrying Myra (she was sitting on top of my belly) helped the baby move down. I did my baby-get-a-move-on-tricks, and I let the baby and Heavenly Father know what my plans were before going to bed that night.

Sunday morning:

I woke up just after 5:00, feeling slightly crampy, wondering if it might be the start of my labor. So I went downstairs, and ate some more pineapple! Then I showered and got ready. I started timing contractions at 5:45AM, they were really mild but they were coming two minutes apart. To keep my mind off each contraction I hummed the chorus to Imagine Dragon's "Demons" song... I will probably always think of this baby when I hear that song now.  Started some oatmeal cooking and woke Devin, “Wake up and get ready! … I need you to take me to the hospital!” Grabbed my bags and my oatmeal and we were out the door by 6:20.

When we got to the hospital I was dilated to a six, and my contractions were getting more intense. However, I had committed to breathing through them this time instead of screaming (Devin’s hearing may never be the same again after enduring through Myra’s labor). When our delivery room was finally ready for us, I was feeling the urge to push. Leaving no time for an antibiotic, I breathed (with my fists clenched tight) through some super uncomfortable contractions, and finally pushed out this baby (three hard pushes on three hard contractions… some controlled screaming involved). Lucky for Devin, it was quick!

Holding my new little baby seemed so unreal. This whole time, there really was a baby in there! He came out cheesy (vermix coated) and beautiful. His little features are so perfect. And such an obedient child already! He came right on cue.

Sawyer (still coming up with a middle name) Poulton

6 pounds 6.5 ounces

17.5 inches long

5-25-14 at 7:27AM

I am feeling great. Not too sore yet. Happy as can be!

Sawyer has the baby thing down! Sleeps great, eats great!

Since we didn’t have time to get an antibiotic in me through an IV before I had him, they did some extra blood testing on Sawyer afterward. Everything that has come back so far looks good! However, because I was GBS positive, I have to stay at the hospital the full two days. So far I am actually fine with that… I like having my food delivered to me. But my kiddos can’t understand why we couldn’t come home with them… first I skipped out on church and then I told them I was sleeping at the hospital tonight. Myra was especially upset.

Both Bridger and Myra are so sweet with their new little brother. They love him to pieces and want to hold him all the time. We have to keep shushing them, they can hardly hold in their excitement! Bridger really wishes we would have named him Boone. And they really want to bring him home with us! We took Sawyer for a walk (Bridger and Myra pushing his roller crib) down the hallways. Myra was not happy when we came back to our room. She thought we were all going home!

So… the pineapple trick worked! Devin and I have three kids. Bridger astutely figured “you only had two… but now you have three!” We are now a family of five!